Aflac (NYSE:AFL) Stock Price Expected to Rise, JPMorgan Chase & Co. Analyst Says

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) had its price target hoisted by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $90.00 to $94.00 in a report issued on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a neutral rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on AFL. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Aflac to $107.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Evercore ISI reduced their target price on Aflac from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of Aflac from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Aflac from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Aflac from $115.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $100.86.

Aflac Stock Up 0.7 %

NYSE:AFL opened at $103.51 on Tuesday. Aflac has a one year low of $75.07 and a one year high of $115.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.08 and a quick ratio of 0.08. The company has a market cap of $57.50 billion, a PE ratio of 15.59, a P/E/G ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 1.00. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $106.71 and its 200 day simple moving average is $104.64.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.16 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by $0.47. The company had revenue of $2.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.30 billion. Aflac had a net margin of 22.02% and a return on equity of 16.34%. Aflac’s revenue was down 40.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.84 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Aflac will post 7.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be given a $0.58 dividend. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.24%. This is a positive change from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 19th. Aflac’s payout ratio is presently 34.94%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Aflac news, EVP Audrey B. Tillman sold 24,744 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.40, for a total transaction of $2,558,529.60. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 222,618 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,018,701.20. This represents a 10.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Aflac

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in AFL. TD Asset Management Inc increased its holdings in Aflac by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 188,370 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $16,823,000 after purchasing an additional 3,861 shares in the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC grew its holdings in Aflac by 11.5% during the second quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 18,037 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,611,000 after buying an additional 1,862 shares in the last quarter. Candriam S.C.A. raised its position in Aflac by 5.3% in the 2nd quarter. Candriam S.C.A. now owns 35,415 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,163,000 after buying an additional 1,772 shares during the last quarter. Savant Capital LLC lifted its stake in Aflac by 28.8% during the 2nd quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 11,842 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,058,000 after acquiring an additional 2,647 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC boosted its holdings in Aflac by 7,001.0% during the 2nd quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 667,706 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $596,000 after acquiring an additional 658,303 shares during the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Aflac

Aflac Incorporated, through its subsidiaries, provides supplemental health and life insurance products. The company operates through Aflac Japan and Aflac U.S. segments. The Aflac Japan segment offers cancer, medical, nursing care, work leave, GIFT, and whole and term life insurance products, as well as WAYS and child endowment plans under saving type insurance products in Japan.